Beyond the Mall - ₹ 230,000 - Registration Deadline 23 October 2026
Oct 23, 2025
2 min read
The shopping mall was built to keep people inside. Its walls face inward, its routes are planned, and its purpose is narrow. But cities are changing, and so are the ways people gather. Designaddvance 2026 asks a bold question: what if the mall became part of the city itself?
PRIZE FUND: ₹ 230,000/-
1ST PLACE: ₹ 75,000/-
2ND PLACE: ₹ 50,000/-
3RD PLACE: ₹ 25,000/-
Top 10 entries to be published on their website
Top 3 winners get free entry to ARKANCE IN BIM for Design Program (120 Hours) worth ₹ 80,000/-
DATE:
Registrations Close: 23 October 2026
Submission Deadline: 29 October 2026
PARTICIPANTS:
Undergraduate and postgraduate students
Young professionals in Architecture, Planning, Civil Engineering, and Design (must be under 30 on the date of submission)
COST*: Free Of Charge
Under the theme “Beyond the Mall: Rethinking Retail Landscapes as Urban Public Space,” the competition invites participants to reimagine retail architecture as a civic catalyst. This is a place where commerce sits alongside play, culture, movement, and everyday life.
The challenge is clear. Designers are asked to transform the closed retail box into an open, porous landscape woven into the urban fabric. Public life comes first. Spaces must be useful, welcoming, and active from day to night, all year round. The line between inside and outside, public and private, should blur.
This is not about adding a plaza to a mall. It is about making the mall itself a public space. In short, participants must design a mall that behaves like a city: open, connected, and alive.
Design Challenge
Reimagine the mall as an open, accessible, socially active civic landscape
Rethink its form, organization, and purpose
Bring together commerce, culture, recreation, and community
Create meaningful, usable spaces that work day and night, year-round
Integrate movement, pause, and interaction
Site Strategy (choose one)
Retrofit approach: Select a real, existing shopping mall or commercial complex that is underperforming, obsolete, or lacks public engagement. Hypothetical sites are not accepted.
New hybrid proposal: Propose a new development on an underused urban site.
Location: Any thriving city in the world, as long as the site sits within a dense, active urban context. Participants must support their choice with clear evidence and a strong justification.
Selection tip: Look for strong accessibility and connectivity, such as streets, transit, and pedestrian flows.
Ready to rewrite the future of the mall? With registration free and the deadline close, this is your moment. Gather your team, choose your site, and submit your vision today!
